The word of the day* for January 8, 2007 is “literate” — 1 a : EDUCATED, CULTURED b : able to read and write. 2 a : versed in literature or creative writing : LITERARY b : LUCID, POLISHED <a literate essay> c : having knowledge or competence <computer-literate> <politically literate>.
A salute to my friend Rae who is now the coordinator for the literacy project run by Goodwill Industries Education & Training Center. She’s looking for volunteer tutors. I’d offer, but I know that I am not a good teacher. I have no patience.
Yet, I understand the need for teachers—not just the formal kind in classrooms on schedules, but the person at the grocery store who offers tips on what to do with the papayas one is eyeing with misgiving. One of the things I do at work is explain to co-workers how one of the computer systems we use works. I don’t mind it too much, except when Dumb-as-rocks asks the same question three days in a row. Never mind that I tell them to write it down, they can’t find the scrap they wrote on, again. I get to thinking, “Where do they come from, and why do they send them to me?’
The quote† for today is from: Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944), Modes and Morals, ch. 7 (1920):
Conventional manners are a kind of literacy test for the alien who comes among us.
;^) Jan
* The definition is from either Merriam-Webster Online, 10th Edition (http://www.m-w.com/) or The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition (http://www.bartleby.com/61/) and is used by permission.
† The quote is from either Bartleby: Great Books on Line (http://www.Bartleby.com/bartlett) or The Quotation Pages (http://www.quotationspage.com/) and is used by permission.
P.S.: Comments and word requests are welcome.
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